Adelaide cements its role as Australia's defence industry capital as AUKUS submarine program accelerates

Adelaide has consolidated its position as the undisputed centre of Australia's naval shipbuilding industry, with the Osborne Naval Shipyard hosting the construction programs for the Hunter Class frigates and now preparing for the infrastructure investments associated with the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program. The concentration of naval shipbuilding expertise, supply chain businesses and the workforce skills required for large-scale naval construction makes Adelaide the natural home for these programs in a way that would be difficult to replicate elsewhere in Australia.

The Hunter Class frigate program alone represents an investment of extraordinary scale, with nine frigates to be built at Osborne over a period that extends across multiple decades. This duration provides the kind of sustained industrial demand that supports genuine workforce development, with young shipbuilders who begin careers on the Hunter program potentially still working in naval shipbuilding in Adelaide when the submarine program reaches peak production.

The defence industry supply chain that has grown around Osborne spans hundreds of South Australian businesses across engineering, electronics, materials, logistics and professional services. The procurement volumes associated with major naval programs create commercial opportunities throughout this chain, and the state government has been active in connecting SA businesses to program opportunities through its defence industry support programs.

The workforce training infrastructure for naval shipbuilding and, eventually, submarine maintenance has been a focus of collaboration between industry, government and education institutions. TAFE SA and the universities have developed programs that feed graduates into the shipbuilding workforce, and the industry's commitment to apprenticeship programs is creating a trades workforce that will grow with the programs.

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